Wagner James Au reports on virtual worlds & VR

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

"You guys look like an alt rock group whose tour bus broke down in
Omaha!" I tell the people I'm with, because, as it happens, they do.
Foxy Xevious for one is a girl in leather with long dredlocks, while
Jimmy Thompson sports a mohawk made of flame. And they're standing in a
field of flowers and shrub, and a weathered farmhouse looms over them.

"I'm the groupie," their companion Dreams Lightcloud announces
gamely, and as if to drive that point home, the girl with pink hair and
platform heels begins to rock dance amid the long-stem roses.

Actually, what we're standing in is known as The Field of Dreams,
which is also not a reference to the Kevin Costner film. It's an
elaborate tech demo, and far as I know, I'm the first person associated
with Linden Lab to see how a man who's spent a lot more of his time
thinking about Canadian shipping routes has managed to beat Linden Lab
at their own game. So to speak.

"I’m doing research [on] how to improve visual quality inside Second
Life," Jimmy explains, "and the field is one of many prototype we
made." He created it, he says, from "the desire to override the actual
way Lindens implemented vegetation inside SL. [We needed a] more
convincing and realistic solution." The result-- if I can briefly
report from backstage-- got most of the developers and programmers at
Linden Lab to gather around a single monitor, looking at Jimmy's field,
gap-mouthed in awe.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

"Oh Hamlet," Baccara Rhodes begins modestly, referring to the foggy London cobblestone streets outside, and the warm glow cast by the pub fireplace nearby, and the Northen star above us, and the pirate ships, and the roller coaster, and the Indian village, and everything else that she and her team have spent weeks building, in a project that spreads out in all directions over three simulators and 48 acres of virtual land, "You know me. I talk to Fey..."

"What did I do?" Fey asks, standing wide-eyed next to her. Then again, Fey Brightwillow is always wide-eyed-- especially when she's dressed in a Victorian Age ladies' bodice of her own creation, as she is now.

"And," Baccara continues, "the three words she doesn't wanna hear are 'I've been thinking'."

Ms. Rhodes and Ms. Brightwillow are the founders of Spellbound, a group devoted to creating and hosting premiere social events (fashion shows, weddings, and the like) that tend to top whatever came before it. But in that regard, given that their last big production was a tribute to the Wizard of Oz novels, they had quite a hurdle clear, this time.

"Fey and I just talk," she said. "After Oz, we said, 'Hmmmmm.'" Baccara told Fey she'd been doing some thinking, and then Fey did some too. And they kept on thinking together, over the phone (which considering their in-world celebrity status, is probably the best way to brainstorm without constant interruption.)

And the outcome of all their thinking was this: Neverland, a three-sim tribute to the world and wonders of J.M. Barrie, creator of the Peter Pan novels. Spellbound's efforts were assisted by Linden Lab, which loaned them use of three servers, for Neverland; some Lindens contributed their technical and creative assistance in the production, as well. Earlier this week, they took me on a long advance press tour, to show me all its wonders. There's a story to unfold, secrets to reveal, games to play, fabulous creatures to interact with, and rides to, well, ride on. But by request of the production team, all of those will remain untold here, until next week. For now, just these three screenshots, as hints of far more to come.

When we're standing in the children's bedroom of the Darling house with the window open to the sky, Baccara turns to me.

"Do you remember how to get to Neverland, Hamlet?

I'm not feeling the magic just yet, so I say something about Michael Jackson's palatial estate, and the Elephant Man's bones. Undaunted, Baccara presses on.